A man has been arrested in The Hague for threatening to blow himself up in support of the traditional blackface Zwarte Piet, who has been phased out of many big city Sinterklaas parades.

The man made the threat on Facebook this weekend, and police received several reports from worried people who had seen the posting. The man, aged 49, was arrested on Monday.

The suspect told police that he was sorry about the message, which he had made in reaction to another post. No explosives were found during a search of his home.

Nevertheless, he remains in custody and will appear in court on Thursday for a remand hearing.

Police said in a statement that the man had been arrested for crossing the boundary of what is acceptable, by threatening to commit an act which would lead to innocent people being hurt.